Paris 2024 Day 9 Recap: Two golds and a silver for Canada at Paralympic Games to bring total to 23

– Sebastian Massabie and Cody Fournie win gold; Jesse Zesseu claims silver
– Women’s wheelchair basketball team falls in semifinals; Trinity Lowthian posts best ever wheelchair fencing result

PARIS – The Canadian Paralympic Team has now captured 23 total medals with two days of competition remaining at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, officially surpassing the 21 won at the Tokyo Games three years ago. Three first-time Paralympians added to the total, with Sebastian Massabie and Cody Fournie taking gold and Jesse Zesseu earning silver.

MEDALS WON ON SEPTEMBER 6

GOLD – Sebastian Massabie, Para Swimming, 50m Freestyle S4
GOLD – Cody Fournie, Para Athletics, Men’s T51 100m
SILVER – Jesse Zesseu, Para Athletics, Men’s F37 Discus Throw

OVERALL MEDAL TOTAL

GOLD – 8
SILVER – 7
BRONZE – 8
TOTAL – 23

RESULTS SUMMARY

Para Athletics
Cody Fournie is now a two-time Paralympic champion at his first Games after charging to gold in the men’s T51 100m. He won in a Paralympic record time of 19.63 seconds to add to his victory in the 200m earlier in the Games.

“I feel wonderful, it feels great to get two gold medals at the Paralympics,” said Fournie. “I will be bringing back everything I learned from this event and apply it to my training back home.”

In his debut Paralympic Games appearance, Jesse Zesseu captured the silver medal in the men’s F37 discus throw. With a best distance of 53.24 metres, Zesseu finished behind champion Tolibboy Yuldashev of Uzbekistan at 57.28.

“I was here last year for world championships, in exactly the same city, in Paris; I triple faulted, and it was the worst meet of my life, and I cried,” Zesseu said. “And I cried again now in Paris but for a different reason, for a good reason. So it’s just everything in the last three years since I started Para sports, to do this, I have no words, it’s incredible.”

Other Para athletics results saw Anthony Bouchard fourth in the men’s T52 100m final, Renee Foessel sixth in the women’s F38 discus, and Marissa Papaconstantinou seventh in the women’s T64 100m.

Austin Smeenk also was second in his heat in the men’s T34 800m to advance to Saturday’s final. He is looking for his second career Paralympic medal after winning bronze in the 100m. He is the world record holder in the 800m.

Para Swimming
Sebastian Massabie set a world record en route to a gold medal – his first Paralympic podium – in the men’s 50m freestyle S4. Finishing in 35.61 seconds, he also bested the Paralympic record of 36.95 he had set in the heats. The 19-year-old is competing at his first Paralympic Games.

“I feel really, really happy, excited, and proud of myself,” Massabie said.

Four other athletes raced in finals with Alexander Elliot seventh in the men’s 100m backstroke S10, Katie Cosgriffe fifth and Aurelie Rivard eighth in the women’s 100m backstroke S10, and Mary Jibb eighth in the women’s 100m butterfly S9.

Five swimmers did not advance out of the morning heats: Hannah Ouellette in the women’s 50m butterfly S5, Arianna Hunsicker in the women’s 100m backstroke S10, Nicholas Bennett in the men’s 100m backstroke S14, Emma Van Dyck in the women’s 100m backstroke S14, and Reid Maxwell in the men’s 100m freestyle S8.

Wheelchair Basketball
Facing off against Netherlands in the women’s wheelchair basketball semifinals, Canada fell in a tightly contested battle 72-61. Tied 15 times throughout the game, Canada fought hard against the Dutch, the defending Paralympic champions. It was Canada’s first semifinal appearance in 20 years, and the squad will now play China for the bronze medal on Sunday.

Para Canoe
Brianna Hennessy was the busiest Para canoe athlete on the day, racing in two events. She finished first in her women’s VL2 heat with a time of 1:02.64, moving directly into the final. In the women’s KL1 heats, she was fourth in her heat and will now race in the semifinals.

“It’s good to get the first two races out of the way, get those initial nerves out of the way, and we executed everything to game plan today,” said Hennessy.

“I think it’s just incredible to have my family here with me this time, just like a heartbeat from back home, and just the Canadian fans standing behind us this time. I think that’s going to totally propel us in the finals tomorrow.”

Her two teammates will also race in semifinals on Saturday following their results in the heats. Erica Scarff was third in her heat in the women’s VL3, while St-Pierre was fourth in his men’s VL2 heat.

“It’s the first race, I was super nervous, but I think it went really well,” said Scarff. “I executed my plan, and I used the crowd and my competitors to motivate me to get to the finish.”

Para Equestrian
Canada finished 11th in the team event as Para equestrian competition continued at Chateau de Versailles. Representing Canada were Jody Schloss and El Colorado, Austen Burns and Happy Feet 3, and Roberta Sheffield and Fairuza.

Wheelchair Fencing
Trinity Lowthian earned Canada’s best ever wheelchair fencing result at the Paralympic Games with a fifth-place finish. She posted big victories over the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the women’s category B epee tournament, but ultimately just missed out on playing for the bronze medal.

She opened the day with a 15-9 loss in the table of 16 versus Ukrainian Olena Fedota-Isaieva to drop into the repechages. She then posted a 15-7 victory over South Korea’s Cho Eun Hye (No. 3 seed), before ousting No. 2 Rossana Pasquino 15-13. Needing one more win to advance into the bronze medal game, she lost a close one 15-14 to Hong Kong’s Tong Nga Ting.

“I’m so pleased with my performance,” said Lowthian. “After my first match this morning, I would have never imagined I would have made it this far and get those wins.”

In other results, Ryan Rousell lost 15-6 to Artem Manko of Ukraine in the men’s category A epee table of 32 to close out his Paris 2024 Games.

Para Cycling Road
Keely Shaw was 15th in the women’s C4-5 road race. She was the lone Canadian in action in Para cycling on the day, with one day remaining in competition.

CLICK HERE for the complete results on Friday September 6.

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